Albert Einstein College of Med, Bronx, NYAlbert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Background:

Gait velocity (GV) is predictive of health status, hospitalizations and mortality and is used to assess functional status the elderly. In the US, elderly Blacks have higher rates of physical disability compared to Whites. Few studies have investigated modifiable risk factors predictive of GV and differences by race. Consequently, we performed a cross-sectional study within a longitudinal, elderly cohort to investigate racial differences in GV and what factors are associated with this measure.

Methods:

The Einstein Aging Study (EAS) is a longitudinal study of community residing elderly. Participants are recruited using Medicare beneficiary lists and voter registration records. Demographics and medical history are collected as well as the Geriatric Depression Scale, Blessed Information Memory Concentration Test, the SF-36, and the Total Pain Index (TPI) which measures pain severity, location, duration and frequency over 3 months prior to the visit. GV is measured using the GAITrite gait mat embedded with pressure sensors (CIRsystems, Havertown, PA). Nested linear regression models, adjusted for possible confounders, were used to investigate racial differences in GV. To predict decreased GV, we fit linear regression models within each race strata.

Conclusion:

Differences in GV persist between Blacks and Whites despite adjusting for many confounders like pain, depression, and comorbidities such as diabetes. When analyzed by race, both groups have modifiable risk factors for decreased GV and by extension decreased functional status. Gait velocity of less than 100cm/sec in the elderly has been associated with increased hospitalizations and mortality. Therefore using GV to screen and develop interventions may limit and reduce health disparities in functional decline in the elderly.